21 years later, narc chief only candidate for job

Updated 8:35 am, Monday, March 12, 2012

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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John Burke of the Albany County Sheriff's Department displays marijuana grown in Canada and shipped into New York state. The drugs were confiscated from a man and woman traveling south on Interstate 87 in 2008. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

John Burke of the Albany County Sheriff's Department displays marijuana grown in Canada and shipped into New York state. The drugs were confiscated from a man and woman traveling south on Interstate 87 in 2008. ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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John Burke of the Albany County Sheriffs Department at his computer at the Albany County Sheriffs Department in 2008. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

John Burke of the Albany County Sheriffs Department at his computer at the Albany County Sheriffs Department in 2008. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Albany County Sheriff James Campbell, rear left, and Inspector John Burke, stand near a 9mm semi automatic rifle seized during a gambling bust in 2007. (by Philip Kamrass / Times Union)

Albany County Sheriff James Campbell, rear left, and Inspector John Burke, stand near a 9mm semi automatic rifle seized during a gambling bust in 2007. (by Philip Kamrass / Times Union)

Photo: PHILIP KAMRASS

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Craig Apple, Albany County Sheriff, at The Desmond Hotel in Albany in January 2012. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Craig Apple, Albany County Sheriff, at The Desmond Hotel in Albany in January 2012. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

21 years later, narc chief only candidate for job

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ALBANY — A state agency that once pledged to clean up so-called double-dipping abuses recently granted permission for an Albany County sheriff's inspector to collect his police pension while also being paid more than $87,700 a year as a narcotics supervisor.

In granting the waiver the state Civil Service Commission concluded that, for the 20th year in a row, the sheriff's department has found no other qualified candidates available to fill the shoes of Inspector John F. Burke, who was appointed to head the sheriff's narcotics unit in May 1991.

That's the year Burke, whose unit's tactics have come under fire for alleged civil rights abuses, retired from the Albany police force and began receiving a $32,035 annual pension on top of his sheriff's salary. Without the waiver, his pension would be frozen while he's paid a full-time government income.

Burke, 61, received his latest waiver in December in a state proceeding that lasted a few minutes. The panel based its decision on a handful of documents supplied by sheriff's officials. Under guidelines enacted in 2008, the commission concluded the sheriff's department had demonstrated that "qualified, non-retired persons are not available for recruitment."

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It also means that for two decades the sheriff's department, which is one of the area's largest police agencies, has been unable to find or train someone to replace Burke, including from within its ranks.

The Civil Service Commission, in response to a request in January, has delayed release of Burke's files.

Patricia A. Hite, acting civil service commissioner, declined requests to be interviewed. The agency also declined to make anyone else available to respond to questions about Burke's case and the agency's handling of so-called 211 waivers.

Sheriff Craig Apple said last month he discovered the department's copies of Burke's waiver files had inexplicably vanished from the sheriff's administrative offices after the Times Union sought to review them. Apple asked state officials for duplicate copies, which he turned over to the Times Union last week under a Freedom of Information Law request.

The records show the department's latest effort to find a new narcotics inspector started last October when Burke personally placed a four-line advertisement in the Times Union for a "drug interdiction counselor." It's unclear how the title "counselor" was derived. It's also unclear who paid for the advertisement.

"I don't know who did it or how they paid for it," Apple said, adding he's uncertain if Burke paid the $280 bill. "We did not pay this bill or do the advertising."

Still, Apple did sign a letter provided to state officials indicating Burke's extensive qualifications. "I feel that Mr. Burke is the only qualified candidate for this position," the sheriff's letter states.

Burke could not be reached for comment. A department official on Friday said Burke is on sick leave for undisclosed reasons. Burke has taken at least 16 days leave this year, according to sheriff's time-and-attendance records.

The advertisement for Burke's job listed minimum qualifications of 10 years in police investigations, including six years in a narcotics unit, and a two-year college degree. Apple said he's not sure if anyone applied. He added that he doesn't believe anyone has ever been interviewed for the job in person.

In prior years, former Sheriff James Campbell, who abruptly retired last July, had directed applicants to send applications to a Loudonville post office box that Campbell also used for political campaigns.

Burke's waiver was granted by the Civil Service Commission as Apple has taken steps to disband the drug unit, which operates out of a former bank building in the city of Cohoes.

Burke helped establish the sheriff's drug unit when he retired as an Albany detective.

Last year, as part of a broader examination of the unit, the Times Union obtained copies of applications for the drug inspector's job that showed law enforcement officials with extensive credentials, including a former New York Police Department investigator with anti-terrorism and federal drug task force experience, have applied for the job through the years.

At the time, then-Sheriff Campbell said the other applicants are not as familiar with the area as Burke.

"The way I look at it where can I get anybody better than him," the sheriff said last year.

The sheriff had also given the unit freedom to choose its investigative priorities, which included trolling the Albany bus depot in search of drug mules and low-level prostitution stings. At its height last year, the unit had six investigators, including an Albany detective, all of whom were allowed to have take-home vehicles.

The unit also has had its controversies.

In 2009, the county paid $125,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a bus passenger who had been strip-searched by sheriff's investigators and then forcibly sedated at a hospital, without a court order, so his body could be medically searched for drugs. No drugs were found.

On the use of seizure funds to outfit his investigators with take-home vehicles, Burke previously said he didn't use traditional county purchasing procedures because it was more efficient to buy the vehicles directly from a dealership.

Apple said the Albany detective who had been assigned to the unit was recently returned to the city's detective squad. The decision came after the county and city of Albany could not reach agreement on a liability memorandum. The discussion was triggered by last April's Times Union story on the unit, an official said.

Currently, the unit has dwindled to three investigators and Burke.

"I anticipate closing the unit and merging it with my criminal investigative unit," Apple said. "I don't think it's necessary to have a separate unit anymore. We're going in a different direction."